KHUSHNA SULAMAN-BUTT

Khushna Sulaman-Butt’s practice explores the relationship between classical expectations in figurative art and modern societal diversity. In particular, the work attempts to solve the problems that surface when representing people from a wide variety of sexual, racial, and economic backgrounds and place them within the framework of a traditional westernised cannon. The artist’s work is a negotiation between these two extremes as she engages with the signs and visual rhetoric of diversity within her sitters, bridging the gap between artist, subject and viewer. The process begins with photographing family, friends and strangers. Methods of traditional portraiture are applied when negotiating their experience, perceiving their body language, gaze, and the identity they present. Sulaman-Butt translates their essence into classical poses and situations, aiming to shine a light on the sitters in a way that they may not have been seen within the communities they usually inhabit.

Khushna Sulaman-Butt's work was exhibited at the Saatchi Graduate Show “Grads Now” (2020) and in RCA/Slade School Graduation Show (2020) at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. Other shows include Transtango Urban Encounters Dreaming Cities at the Leicester University Athena Theatre, Leicester, UK (2019); Bare Lines, Safehouse Copeland Road, London, UK (2019); Pulling Teeth, ASC Gallery, The Chaplin Centre, London, United Kingdom (2019); 2017 BP Portrait Award (2-17); Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Sunderland (2018); Ruskin BFA/ MFA Show, Ruskin School of Art, Oxford, UK (2016); National Students Art Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists Mall Galleries (2012).